Saratoga News
Sports
Shahmirza helps Saratoga clinch a victory
By Kevin Sparrer
Brandon Shahmirza not only scored the last touchdown in Saratoga's frosh-soph football win over Homestead, but he also stood at the goal line late in the game to help keep the Mustangs from taking the lead.
The Falcons defeated Homestead 27-26 on Oct. 12 with Shahmirza scoring the final touchdown for Saratoga on a 62-yard run around the left side behind the blocking of quarterback Vincent Carstens.
The Mustangs didn't waver, though. After falling behind 27-20, Homestead drove the ball quickly into the end zone to bring it to within one.
Homestead went for the win, but found Shahmirza and a number of other Falcons in between its running back and the end zone. The Mustangs were stopped short with less than a minute remaining in the game.
The first Saratoga score in the second half came when Carstens was forced out of the pocket and he connected with Andy Berman on a 37-yard completion, which set up a 12-yard touchdown run by Andrew Lee.
Berman then proved himself on defense, holding the Mustang running back short of the goal line in Homestead's first attempt at a two-point conversion to help the Falcons maintain the lead.
Kyle Keating, Adam Oreglia, Kenny Kai, Bryce Dozier, Connor Clark and Berman held strong on the line of scrimmage throughout the course of the game and allowed the Falcons to defeat the Mustangs. In the first half, the line was pushing the ball down the field with Lee running the ball 15 times for 70 yards, but it was a pass that capped the Falcons second drive when Carstens hit Lee deep down the right side of the field for a 46-yard score.
The first touchdown for Saratoga came early in the first quarter after Carstens hit Lee on a 13-yard pass. Shahmirza then took the ball around the right end behind the blocking of Gregory Johnson to go 29 yards for six points on its first drive of the day. After kicking the extra point, Saratoga had the early 7-0 lead.
The win was the second of the year for the Falcons in the El Camino Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic league. Saratoga will travel to Cupertino to face Monta Vista on Oct. 26, 5:15 p.m.
